Way Enough
by aninvinciblesummer
Summary: Modern!AU After being expelled from Kings Landing Day School for punching Joffery Baratheon in the face for insulting her friend, Arya Stark is forced to leave her friends and crew team to attend Harrenhall Secondary School, where she meets Gendry Waters, Harrenhall's star rower. Together they try to lead Harrenhall's crew team to win their first ever Iron Cup championship.
1. Catch

**Author's Note: This is my very first fan fiction ever, and I am terrified.**

**Here is some rowing lingo to explain the story's title and this chapter's title. **

**_way enough_: the command in rowing to stop doing whatever you are doing**_  
_

**_catch_: the beginning of the rowing stroke where the oar blade is set in the water.**

**If you want to learn more about crew/rowing, just check Wikipedia.**

* * *

_Hey, I just met you,_

Gendry woke with a start and groaned when he realized what day it was.

_And this is crazy,_

He wiped the sleep from his eyes and fingered the slight stubble on his cheeks. He would have to shave before he went to bed that night.

_But here's my number, so call me, may-_

He slapped the snooze button on top of his old clock radio, effectively stopping the infuriating yet catchy _Call Me Maybe_.

"Gendry! You can't be late on the first day back from Thanksgiving break. Up, up, up!" a warm voice from outside of his door.

"I'm up!"

"Alright, I'm leaving for work. I love you!"

"I love you too,"

Gendry rolled off his bed and on to the floor with a thud. It was 6:30 am, and he felt like a beached whale. Getting up from the ground, he kicked grubby workout clothes and old CD's to clear a pathway to his dresser. He quickly pulled on a gray t-shirt, worn jeans, and a pair of old sneakers. He made his way to his desk, picking up his back pack and shoving a few sharpened pencils and notebooks into it, having packed most of his school supplies the night before.

Slinging the back pack on his shoulder and throwing his lucky leather jacket over the other, he left the room and stepped into the main room of the two bedroom one bathroom apartment he shared with his mother.

Gendry knew that to others his apartment came off as shabby, but to him it was home. The main room was painted an off white, with a small kitchenette in one corner, a table pushed up against a wall, and a green loveseat turned towards a small TV. The wall with the window was full of framed pictures of Gendry and his mother.

He sat at the small table where he and his mother always had dinner. It was pushed up against the only window in the apartment, so the setting sun could stream through while they ate. His mom had left him some buttered toast and eggs and a bagged lunch. Shoveling the food down and grabbing the lunch, Gendry left the apartment, making sure to lock both the dead bolt and handle lock.

He walked over to the '90s era Volvo that sat in their apartment's single designated parking spot.

Gendry always felt guilty when he was driving the only car that his mother had. When she had given him the keys on his 17th birthday and told him the car was solely his, he flat out refused.

"Mom, how will you get to work?"

"I can walk to the bus stop to get to work, it's just a few blocks away. Besides, It's your senior year of highschool, you should have a car of your own. y. It's fine, Gendry."

Gendry knew that the bus stop was more then a few blocks away, but decided against continuing the argument with his stubborn mother.

He unlocked the car, threw his school stuff into the back seat, and got into the drivers seat. After a few trys, Gendry started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

_BANG BANG BANG_

"Arya Lyanna Stark, if you don't get out of your room this instant, I swear to god I will-"

Nan stopped her tirade abruptly when the door in front of her swung open to reveal a blank faced Arya Stark, dressed in her usual jeans and sweatshirt. Running a hand through her choppy new haircut, she grabbed her backpack and brushed passed Nan and made her way to an empty kitchen. Her siblings were all still sleeping, since Harrenhall's school day started half an hour earlier then King's Landing's.

A feeling of dread rose from a pit inside of Arya's stomach the moment Nan had started banging on the door. This wasn't right, none of it was right. She should be in bed, sleeping, not leaving her house to go to her first day at Harrenhal Secondary School.

Nan had set out a well balanced breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, milk, and turkey bacon. Arya nibbled at the bacon and chugged the glass of milk, making sure to burp, earning a disapproving frown from Nan.

"Your father will be driving you to school today," Nan told Arya.

Arya felt like a ball had been dropped inside of her. Since the _incident _her father had been too disappointed in her to have s more then superficial conversation with her. Now she would have to endure a twenty minute car ride with him.

"Why?"

Nan smirked, as if she knew exactly what Arya was thinking.

"Your father thought it would be nice to drive you on your very first day at a new school. This is a one time thing, after that I will be driving you to and from school. He is waiting out front for you."

Arya ignored the smirk, deciding that it was time to face her fears. Exiting into the large garage that housed the Stark family's impressive fleet of cars, Arya found her father in silver Prius that he had driven for the past seven years. Neither Stark acknowledged the other when Arya entered the car. The ride to her new school was a painfully silent one. When they were a block away from the school, Ned pulled over into a side street and turned off the car, turning to Arya.

"Now, Arya, I know that this has been hard for you, but... You must know that there are consequences to your actions." He looked to Arya to see how she was responding. She stared at some dried bird poop on the windshield.

"And who knows, maybe you will grow to like it here. Yoren says he has a spot for you on the crew team, which you should be extremely thankful for. You don't even have to do crew if you want. You could join the drama club, like your sister. All that matters is you get good grades and stay out of trouble. That way you can get into a college, get a good job, get married, and start a family."

Arya knew her father was trying his best to comfort her, but she was beyond comforting. She had been forced to leave her team at King's Landing Day School three months into the school year when a fight between her and Joffery Baratheon had turned into a temporary restraining order and expulsion. Her parents had tried to fight for her, but Cersi Lannister had an iron grip around Principal Pycelle, and Ned couldn't risk loosing his career in Robert Baratheon's multi million dollar company. In the end, Arya was forced from the school and her friends. She had two options; move in with her crazy Aunt Lysa in Michigan, or go to public school. The choice hadn't been a hard one, but it was a choice Arya felt she should have never been forced to make.

Deciding she had enough of the conversation, she tore her eyes away from the bird poop and met her father's eyes.

"That's not me dad. You know I want to travel, not settle down and become a house wife and a baby machine," she started gathering her stuff and opening the passenger side's door.

"Arya, let me drive you the rest of the-"

"It's fine, the school is only a block away."

She slammed the door close, and she felt the dread she had earlier that morning return.

* * *

_This school is huge. _Arya thought to herself when she finally made it to the front entrance of the school after abandoning her father in the car.

Harrenhal Secondary School was a public school that taught students from 7th to 12th grade, and had a staggering student population of 3,939 pupils, a little under ten times that of King's Landing Day School. The campus consisted of the school building, a main parking lot and two secondary parking lots, six tennis courts, an eight lane track, a football field, three practice fields, and four baseball fields. The school building itself was a seemingly endless two-story building of light brown brick with black trim.

Her first class hadn't been as terrible as she she imagined a public school classroom to be like. The class was World Religions, taught by an eccentric and kind woman in her early 60's named Dr. Osgood. The classroom was decorated with pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses, quotes speaking about acceptance, gifts from various former student, and exotic items Dr. Osgood had acquired from years of traveling. After being introduced to the class, Arya learned that the class had just started the unit on Islam, so she didn't have much catching up to do.

The hallways were filled with the din of thousands of teenagers gossiping, laughing, and yelling to their friends across locker bays. Though Arya didn't want to admit it, she liked being surrounded by so many people. She could slip into a crowd without being noticed by anyone, as swift as a deer and as quick as a snake. She was a shadow, she was nobody.

At least, she was nobody until some unknown assailant had tripped her. Lacking her usual grace and composure, Arya almost took a nose dive before catching herself, but no without bumping into another student, causing both students to drop the items in their hands.

Arya, leaning up against a row of lockers, quickly looked around to see if anybody had seen her almost fall. Nobody gave her nor her scattered items a second glance. That is, nobody except for a large boy with greasy black hair and tan skin. His angry face was turning an unflattering shade of magenta.

"You knocked my shit over!"

A few people turned to see what the source of the outburst was. When they realized it was just the fat boy yelling at a young girl, they simply rolled their eyes and continued on to their next class.

"Look, I didn't mean to, I-" stuttered Arya.

Ignoring her apologies, the boy grabbed Arya's arm, yanking him towards her.

"Let go of me!"

The boy wouldn't wouldn't relent. He started to yell at her, spittle flying from his mouth.

Arya, hating the feeling of being out of control, started to yell louder then the boy.

"I will beat the shit out of you if you don't let go of me. I've beaten others before, and I won't hesitate to do it again."

The boy laughed.

She could feel the rage bubbling inside of her, just like the day that she had punched Joffery Baratheon in the face, which had landed her in this miserable school. Her skin felt like a hot membrane barely containing her, and her vision became constricted, until all she could see were the boy's big pink lips.

Arya drew her fist back, putting all the force she could into the punch.

_Maybe this will get me expelled from this miserable place._

Arya excepted her fist to make contact with the boy's flabby cheek, but instead it hit a hand that had come out of nowhere.

"Y'know, you really shouldn't hit people that are bigger then you."

Arya turned to see the source of the barrier between her and the fat boy's face. The hand belonged to a tall boy with a muscular build. Ink black curls fell into his shining blue eyes.

Turn"Hot Pie, just head on to class,"

"B-but, Gendry, she was about to p-p-punch me!" Arya looked back at the fat boy, who was apparently named Hot Pie, looking like he was about to soil himself.

The boy named Gendry gave Hot Pie an annoyed frown and bent down to pick up the contents of his back pack.

"Yeah, you cursed someone out and acted like you were going to eat their face, what did you think was going to happen?"

Hot Pie grabbed his things from Gendry with a huff and marched off down the hall. Arya noticed that the crowded hallways was starting to clear, signaling the nearing of the next class.

Arya, realizing that Gendry was still holding her fist, snatched her hand away and started reaching for her scattered papers.

"I wouldn't take Hot Pie too seriously. He is actually I really nice guy, and his lemon tarts are the best. Here, let me help you," The boy bent down again and picked up Arya's recently acquired World Religions textbook.

"Huh, World Religions… thats with Dr. Osgood, right? I heard she is a pretty good teacher," He smiled and handed the book to her. She scowled and snatched it away from him.

"You new here?"

"What does it matter?"

"Well, aren't we sassy. Do you always act hostile whenever someone trys to help you?"

"I didn't need your help, and I certainly don't need it now."

Gendry raised an eyebrow. "Really? You didn't need my help getting out of a fight against a guy with a good 6 inches and 100 plus pounds on you? If I hadn't stopped that fist of yours, you could have knocked his front teeth out. Are you trying to be expelled on your first day?"

When Arya didn't reply, Gendry extended a hand.

"I'm Gendry, by the way."

The hall ways were almost empty, save for the few stragglers risking being tardy to class.

"I'm gonna be late for class."

And with that, Arya darted past him and around a corner, leaving Gendry, alone, his hand stupidly hanging in the air when the bell rang.

* * *

**Please review, so I'm not sitting here in terror about the poor quality of my writing.**


	2. Split

**A/N: Thank you all for the warm reception I got from this story. Special thanks to everyone who liked my story on tumblr and followed my fanfiction tumblr (you can find the link on my profile). Also, big thanks to the reviewers. Ag0D1, I don't think you realize how ecstatic I was to learn that someone who rows is also into Arya x Gendry. **

**_split_ - the standard measurement of speed on an ergometer (erg/indoor rowing machine, the bane of ever rower's existence, and the most common tool used to gauge the ability of a rower) is generally known as the "split", or the amount of time in minutes and seconds required to travel 500 meters (a split of 2:00 means it would take two minutes to go 500 meters)**

**_coxswain_ - (pronounced "cox-in") is the (usually short/small) person who (in most cases) sits in the stern (back) of the boat and faces bow (the front of the boat). The coxswain steers the boat, motivates the rowers, tell them how they are rowing, and is pretty much a mini coach in the boat. During winter training they help motivate the rowers as they work out. If you want to say someone is a coxswain of a certain boat, you say "Summer coxes/coxed the first eight".**

**Again, Wikipedia is a wonderful reasource to learn about the basics of rowing.**

**Forgot**** to mention this in the last one, but all things belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Arya arrived to home to an empty house, as her school day end at 2:10 pm when her sibling's ended at 3:30 pm.

Arya liked remembering what home use to be like before. Not before the incident, but before they had moved from Connecticut to Virginia the previous year. When she was always surrounded by the voices of her family, when she always had a playmate. When her full brother, half brother, and foster brother were still at home instead of in business school or in the army or out to sea on a crabbing boat. Back when her father was the overhead of Baratheon Inc.'s New England branch, before he was promoted to Robert Baratheon's right hand man and the Stark family had been forced to move to northern Virginia in order to be close to the Washington DC headquarters of the company. Back when her mother did more then sit in her office, hunched over papers, trying to help her husband with a job that was too much for one man to bear.

After picking Arya up at school and dropping her off on the family's circular driveway, Nan went off to pick up groceries and bring Mrs. Stark home from yoga, an activity she had taken up recently.

Arya unlocked the front door of her house, taking a moment to revel in the building's sheer size. Sure, she had lived in what could easily be called a mansion in Connecticut, but when the family moved to Virginia, Robert had insisted that the family live in one of the company homes, a sprawling structure that was named "The Keep". The house had ten bedrooms and five baths, and looked like a gaudy white castle from the outside.

Arya entered the house and was immediately greeted with an impressively tiled receiving entrance sort of thing, with two grand staircases that lead to the second level. The left wing stretched into a sitting room, a formal living room, a large dining room, and a den. The right wing extended into the main kitchen, the secondary kitchen, the large family room, and another sitting room.

Arya kicked off her shoes and tried to skate across the floor to the stairs with her socks, something that Nan nagged her not to do, warning Arya that she could fall and crack her head open and bleed out on the floor and die. Nan could be overly dramatic sometimes.

Arya ran up the stairs, running past her sibling's empty rooms and in to her own, slamming the door behind her just because she could.

Besides the incident with the two boys named Gendry and Hot Pie, Arya's first day at school had been relativity uneventful, albeit lonely. The schedule at Harrenhall was strange, spreading out the seven periods of classes a student would take over two days, called "black days" and "red days". First, third, fifth, and seventh period took place on black days, while second, third, fourth, and sixth periods were held on red days. Each class period was an hour and a half long, except for third period, which was held everyday for forty five minutes. The lunch schedule was also strange, due to having so many students. There were five lunch periods, called A, B, C, D, or E lunch. Middle school lunch took place during the A and B blocks, while high school lunch took place during the C, D, and E blocks.

She made a small effort to chat with some of the kids she sat near in class, but had no one to sit with at lunch, so she went to the school's huge library and read a book on the battles in the European Theater of World War II.

The one thing that had gotten Arya through the day was going to Harrenhall's crew team winter training later that evening. She didn't know what boat she would be coxing for, all she knew was that she would be able to get back on the water in the spring, which was all that mattered to her.

* * *

Gendry was use to arriving home to an empty apartment. Half of his childhood memories that took place in the apartment were of him, alone, acting out ridicuosly extravagant stories with his action figures or drawing pictures for his mom, things that a young boy did to entertain himself.

His other memories always involved his mother. His mother cutting his waffles for him, Gendry brushing her long blonde hair with the gently strokes of her brush, Gendry sitting on her lap, leaning back to make a face at his mother that always made her laugh.

Gendry walked into his room and slid his shoes off, unpacking the homework from his back pack and putting workout clothes that didn't smell to badly into his crew bag. His day had gone like any other day, except for the girl almost beating the shit out of Hot Pie. Gendry was always getting Hot Pie out of messes caused by his big mouth, ever since they had first met on the playground in third grade. Hot Pie was about to get his faced shoved in the mud for managing to piss off a six grader about his size when Gendry came to his rescue. Gendry had always felt protective over people who were the underdogs or were always getting themselves into trouble.

A small smile grew on his face when he remembered seeing the girl. She was probably a sophomore. She wasn't grossly skinny, but had a soft and slim figure. Her hair was a sort of choppy bob that looked like she had done herself in a fit of rage. Whoever she was, she was either incredibly ballsy or incredibly stupid for going up against Hot Pie. But that didn't matter, because he would probably never see her again, which was the beauty of going to a school like Harrenhall. You could make yourself invisible amid the masses of students.

Gendry pushed all of the papers and car magazines that had collected on his desk over the break and plopped his Pre-Calculas homework down. He worked for an hour before calling it quits and preparing to pick Hot Pie up for the first day of winter conditioning. Gendry usually hated winter conditioning, since it happened inside during the last hour of light in the winter evenings, depriving him of feeling the sun warm his cheeks. It was all worth it once the spring came and the team started rowing out on the water. That was the time of year that Gendry lived for.

* * *

"Men's first eight, gather around!" Yoren called from the top of the stairs leading to the seventh grade sub-school.

It was the first day of winter training for the experienced members of the Harrenhall crew team. In the coming weeks, they would be joined by the novice rowers to work out, but in the meantime there were forty eight rowers gathered at the end of the qaurter mile long main hallway of Harrenhall where the seventh and eighth grade sub-schools were located. The forty eight rowers consisted of the teams first, second, and third eight women and men's boats. Each rower had rolled an erg from the team's shed located on the school's back parking lot to the spot in the hallway.

The girls, dressed in colorful spandex and work out clothing, arranged themselves into three lines each headed by one of the women's team captains. They laughed and talked while they stretched, all excited to be with their teammates. The women's coach, Brienne, was talking to someone with their back turned to Gendry. Gendry thought nothing of it, as it was probably one of the younger girls on the third eight that he didn't know.

The boys were milling around, waiting to go for their customary warm up jog down the hallway and back, which was always led by Yoren. Upon hearing Yoren's command, Gendry and seven other boys broke away from the group and assembled at the bottom of the stairs where Yoren stood. Together they made Harrenhall's first men's eight. Gendry saw his boat mates as his closest friends, the people who were always apart of his favorite memories. There was Gendry, team captain and a senior, Jack, another captain and also a senior, Travis, a junior and the third captain, Hot Pie, a junior, Nick, a sophomore and the "baby", despite being very fast, John, a senior, Alex, a senior, and, finally, Chris, another senior.

"As many of you already know, our men's first eight coxswain, Lommy Greenhands, moved away this past summer due to his father being relocated to an army base in Germany."

A series of sighs escaped the group. Most of the seniors on men's first eight had been rowing with Lommy since freshmen year.

Ignoring the boys, Yoren continued. "Since the other men's coxswains have either graduated or lack the skill required to control a boat full of you annoying idiots, we were without a coxswain for you eight guys. However, over the Thanksgiving break, a very talented coxswain transferred to Harrenhall. She-"

"What do you mean _she_?" shouted Hot Pie.

"Hot Pie, you are are junior in high school, I would have hoped by now that you had a firm grasp on the basic nouns of the English language. 'She' refers to a female or a woman," this earned a laugh from the boys and a blushing Hot Pie.

"As I was saying, your new coxswain is a sophomore you coxed a championship winning Freshmen eight. I will bring her to you now."

Yoren walked over to Brienne, and put a hand on the small person that was talking to her. Brienne nodded and wandered off to speak to the girls, who were done stretching. The new coxswain turned towards the group and stepped away from Yoren. Six of the eight rowers, with indifferent looks on their faces, sized up the new coxswain, having never seen her in their lives. The other two rowers, Gendry and Hot Pie, reacted differently.

Gendry crossed his arms and let out an amused sort of laugh-snort. When the new coxswain turned to find the source of the sound, she found Gendry's amused look and returned it with a look of annoyance.

"What the _fuck_?" was the only thing that Hot Pie could manage whimper. When she heard this, the coxswain's face turned from a look of irritation to a look of amusement.

"Meet Arya Stark, Harrenhall's new first men's eight coxswain."

* * *

**A/N: I will be trying to update this story about once every week. I have a learning disorder that makes writing difficult for me. I know this is very short, sorry.**

**Harrenhall is modeled around the school I attend, and "The Keep" is modeled around the house of a girl that I go to school with. Yes, I go to school with almost 4,000 kids, and, yes, I know people with a lot of money. My school's district encompasses a large area that has people of all sort of backgrounds, from kids on reduced lunches, to teenagers who drive $30,000 cars to school and have elevators in their houses.**

**Finally, please review. Tell me if you find anything confusing.**


	3. Drive

**A/N: So not much is going on with me... I have pretty much not doing anything until marching band starts up next month. I am trying to convince my parents to take me to Comic Con next summer as a graduation present. Senior pictures were Tuesday and they came out really well! It is hard to imagine that I will be a high school graduate this time next year. I have a lot of decisions to make in the upcoming year. My twin, our good friend, and I started working on college stuff today. **

**_drive_** **- the part of the stroke where the blade is pulled through the water.**

**Refer to earlier chapter's A/N and Wikipedia for information on rowing.**

* * *

_Argo Navis _had once been a large constellation in the southern sky, Theon told Arya when he came home from his first crab season at sea. The constellation represented the 50-oared ship in which Jason and the Argonauts from Greek mythology sailed to fetch the golden fleece from Colchis in the Black Sea. In the 18th century, astronomers had considered the constellation too large and unwieldy, so it was divided into three smaller constellations, _Carina_ (the hull of the ship), _Puppis_ (the poop deck), and_ Vela_ (the sails). Arya mentioned the constellation once to Robb in passing, saying how it was cool that there was a constellation with rowers in it. Arya soon forgot about the constellation, but Robb always seemed to remember those ten seconds in his life as clearly as her remembered what he ate that morning.

When Arya had been expelled from King's Landing, she didn't speak for three days. On the second day, Robb and Jon, who had been visiting for Thanksgiving, had had enough, and devised a plan to get Arya to speak. With the help of Nan, to distract Arya, and Theon, with his nautical knowledge, they painted _Argo Navis_ on Arya's bedroom ceiling. Jon and Theon, who were getting along only for Arya's sake, plotted the stars on her ceiling, after which Robb and his artist girlfriend, Jeyne Westerling, illustrated the ship using the stars and old pictures as a guide. When they revealed it to Arya on the third day, she said her first words in three days: "I love it".

And it was the _Argo Navis_ on Arya's ceiling that the girl was staring at, as she lay on her bed, trying to calm herself down and become excited for the Harrenhall winter conditioning that she was going to soon.

"Ready to go?" Nan was standing in Arya's doorway, twirling her key ring around her index finger.

Arya sucked in a deep breathe and got off of her bed, taking her small drawstring bag with her. Inside it was her phone, water, and a composition notebook. She would use the composition notebook to record how the rowers on her boat did at practice performed on their various exercises throughout the season.

Once Nan and Arya left the house and were inside of the family's mini-van, Nan twisted in her seat to look at Arya, who was nervously dumming her fingers on the dashboard.

"It's gonna be alright, Arya. You just need to stand your ground and keep your cool. Got it, kiddo?"

Arya gave the women a small smile. Nan was always blunt with her, but also told Arya what she needed to hear.

Arya recounted her first day at Harrenhall to Nan, but left out the part where she had almost punched someone twice her size. Nan nodded and asked her questions, assuring Arya that she was genuinely interested in how her day went. In no time they had arrived to the main entrance of Harrenhall.

Nan gave Arya a reassuring pat before she hopped out of the van. As she walked towards the four sets of double doors, Arya felt her nerves creep on up on her. It felt like a cold hand was gripping at her neck. What if she had to cox a novice boat? What if she wasn't good enough?

Arya instantly shook these notions from her head. She was more then capable of coxing an experienced boat. When she was at King's Landing, she had led the men's freshmen eight to win both the state and national title. Her new coaches would surely recognize this.

She opened one of the doors and walked into the quarter of a mile long main hallway of Harrenhall Secondary School. The hallway was lined with trophy cases, housing trophies from the early seventies to the present.

The hallway seemed much larger now then when it was full during the school day. Arya remembered that the winter conditioning would be held at the very end of the hallway. Though she saw what seemed to be only one person standing alone at the end of the hall way, she started the trek towards the end.

The single person at the end of the hallway was... a man? A woman? Arya couldn't tell, as the she was facing the person's back. The person was extremely tall and muscular, with choppy straw blonde hair.

"Excuse me, uh-"

Arya clammed up when the person- who she could tell now was a woman- turned around. The woman was covered in freckles, and had wide, swollen lips that fought to hide crooked teeth. The only redeeming quality of the woman's face were her sparkling blue eyes.

"Sorry hun, but the novice rowers don't start practicing for another two weeks," The woman had a commanding voice, but was also smiling softly at Arya, as if she felt sorry for the girl.

Arya huffed and stamped her foot.

"I am _not_ a novice. My name is Arya Stark-"

"Ah, yes! Yoren told me about you. Sorry for the mistake," Arya tried not to wince when the woman gave her a toothy grin. The woman really needed to see a good orthodontist. "I am Brienne Tarth, Harrenhall crew team's head women's coach, but you can call me Bri, all of my girls do," Brienne stuck out a large hand to Arya, who took it with a firm grip.

There was an awkward silence until Arya asked "So, where is everybody?"

Brienne chuckled. "Well, you are a bit early, practice doesn't start for about another half hour."

Arya checked her watch, which told her it was only 3:50 pm. Arya sighed.

Out of no where, an skittish looking boy of about nineteen appeared next to Brienne.

"Ah, Podrick. Arya, this is Podrick, my nephew and assistant coach. He goes to John Langdon University, the local college down the road."

John Langdon University, Arya had learned when she first moved to Virginia, had a very competitive rowing club, despite it not being a varsity sport there.

"Podrick, this is Arya, a addition to our team,"

Podrick silently nodded at Arya. Brienne rolled her eyes.

"Pod, could you go get my clipboard from the car?"

Podrick seemed relieved to get away from Brienne and Arya. He snatched the pair of keys in Brienne's outstretched hand and scurried away. Arya crinkled her face in confusion.

"Did I.. do something wrong?"

"Skittish and shy is all he is. A great rower though, he is on the first eight over at Langdon. Once you get to know him, he will start talking, the poor boy has a bit of a stutter though. I ought to take him to a speech therapist."

Rowers had started showing up while Brienne and Arya had been talking. They were all rolling an erg behind them, automatically setting them all in a row. The girl rowers were starting to make three lines for stretching, while the boys were huddled in their own group, all laughing at some joke.

Brienne turned to the girls and called on of them over.

"Oi, Elizabeth!"

"Yeah, Coach?" came a voice from the lines of girls.

"Come here!"

One of the girls, Elizabeth, stood up from the group, playfully nudging the girls in her way with her foot. She made her way towards Brienne and Arya.

The first two things Arya noticed about Elizabeth was her hair and her eyes. Elizabeth had a wild mess of dirty blonde curls fluffing around her face, and the biggest blue eyes Arya had ever seen. Everything else about Elizabeth was average, but Arya thought she would look pretty is she pulled her hair back.

"Arya, I would like for you to meet Elizabeth. She is a senior on the first eight and is one of the woman's captains. Elizabeth, this is Arya, a coxswain who will be joining us."

Elizabeth gave Arya a warm smile.

"Hey, Arya. I have to go start the stretching, but it was nice to meet you."

Elizabeth went back to her group of girls.

"Elizabeth is a good kid. Has had some health issues sophomore year, but I thought you should meet her."

Arya took a closer look at Elizabeth. Arya didn't see anything in the girl's outward appearance that would indicate illness, until she noticed the scars. Elizabeth's shorts had ridden up, exposing about six jagged scars on her upper leg. They were obviously self inflicted. Elizabeth fixed her shorts to cover the scars, a movement that seemed like it was second nature.

"_Oh_, that kind of sick."

Brienne nodded. "She had to go to the hospital for a week last year, but she has been doing a lot better since then."

Arya felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face a tall man with dark hair and a bushy beard. It was Yoren, her father's friend and head men's coach.

"'Ello Arya, I am Yoren. I want to come introduce you to your boat," Arya turned to say goodbye to Brienne, but she had already wandered off to the girls. It was time for Arya to put her game face on.

At the end of the hallway, in front of the seventh grade sub-school, stood a group of eight boys. Arya instantly recognized two of the boys, but kept the look of surprise off of her face. That is, until one of the boys she recognized crossed his arms and laughed. It was the boy from earlier that day, Gendry, who had stopped her from punching that fat boy, Hot Pie, who happened to be standing right next to him.

"What the _fuck_?" was all Hot Pie could manage to whisper when he saw her. Arya smirked.

"Meet Arya Stark, Harrenhall's new first men's eight coxswain."

Being put on the men's first eight was news to Arya. She thought she might be put on a third eight, or second eight at best. But the boys were looking at her, so she tried to not look surprised.

"Like Yoren said, I'm Arya and I use to go to-" in that instant, Arya decided that she did not want anyone at her new school to know that she had gone to King's Landing. She didn't want anyone to know she was well off.

"-I- uh, I use to go to a school in Maine, but I moved here over Thanksgiving."

The boys just stood and looked at her, unsure of what to do next. Yoren sighed.

"Well, you nit-wits, are you gonna tell your coxswain your names, or is she gonna have to give you her own names?"

One of the boys started hopping on one of his legs with his right hand in the air.

"Oh, oh, coach! I have an idea!

Yoren rolled his eyes and pointed at the boy. "What is it, Travis?"

"Let's play an icebreaker game!"

"What the hell is an icebreaker game? Ugh, whatever, just be ready to work out once I come back from running with the other boys." And with that, Arya was left alone with the eight boys whose names she didn't even know.

"Ok, ok, ok," started the boy named Travis. "Lets all say our name, what grade we are in, and an interesting fact about ourselves. I'll go first."

Travis did a little bow to Arya.

"My name is Travis, I am a senior, and I am one of the team captins. An interesting fact... at one of the regattas last year, I put some bread in my mouth and fed some geese that were near the dock. I am kind of one with nature." A few of the boys laughed at the memory/

Travis was a wiry Asian boy whose black hair stood up in several cow licks.

The next boy to introduce himself was Jack, another senior who was also captain. His interesting fact was that he was the main editor of Batman's page on Wikipedia. Jack had a cheesy smile and and kind of looked like the Bad Luck Brian meme.

There was Nick the sophomore who played bass drum in the school's marching band, and John, the quiet senior who had watched every 130 episodes of _He-Man and the Masters of the Universe_. There was the senior Alex, who could play five Taylor Swift songs on the clarinet, and the senior Chris, who once stayed up for 36 hours straight to play Left 4 Dead.

It was down to the two boys Arya had met that morning.

"I and Gendry, team captain, and senior. My interesting fact... is that I have already met you. PLOT TWIST!" He gave her a goofy grin and a wink. Arya just frowned and crossed her arms.

Finally, it was Hot Pie, who looked very reluctant to be within a five foot radius of Arya.

"My name is Hot Pie, I am a senior... and once I ate 16 lemon cakes in a sitting."

"That's nothing. My sister Sansa polished of 24 of those bad boys in 90 minutes." Arya hoped this could get her back into Hot Pie's good graces. She really wanted to have a god relationship with her rowers.

All signs of apprehension left Hot Pie's face, who know had a dreamy look in his eyes.

"That's my kind of women."

* * *

Arya arrived home just as Nan was announcing over the house's intercom that dinner was ready.

Arya's mother had picked her up from practice, trying her best to have an actual conversation with her daughter. Arya appreciated the effort, so she talked about Yoren and Brienne, Elizabeth, and the boys on her boat. She didn't have the chance to speak to any of her guys during practice, having been swept away by the team's other five coxswains to be told all about how the team worked. By the time they were done with her, most of the rowers had gone home.

That night the family was eating at the table in the kitchen, instead of in the large dining room that was frequently used for business dinners. The kitchen table had nine places, eight places for the Stark family and one place for Theon. Robb, Jon, and Theon's places had long been unoccupied.

Tonight's dinner was to be Prosciutto Goat Cheese Chicken, strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing, freshly baked whole wheat bread, and chocolate mousse for dessert. There was also a bottle of fizzy water set out for the children, but Arya preferred water from the tap, so Nan had also set out a glass of tap water for her.

The various members of the family congregated upon the table. Arya's father was still wearing his suit from the office, except he had discarded his coat and tie. He smiled, but his eyes expressed how he was really feeling ; exhausted. Her mother was in lounge clothes, but looked just as tired as her father.

It was a Stark family tradition to start out every dinner with each member telling something about their day. Once every member had served themselves and had started eating, Sansa began that night's retelling.

Sansa told the family about auditioning for the lead part in King Landing's spring musical, which was going to be _How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_. She rambled on about some character named Rosemary Pilkington, which Arya thought was a ridiculous name. Apparently Rosemary's only goal was to get with the musical's main character, which Arya thought was even more ridiculous.

Bran talked about _Of Mice and Men_, the book that his English class had started in class. Arya vaguely remembered having read that book when she was a freshmen. The one character that had stuck with her was Lennie, since he reminded her of Hodor, the family's slow garden keeper who was also Nan's grandson.

Rickon talked about how they had dissected owl pellets in class and how he had found the partial skeleton of a bird inside of a pellet, which was apparently very rare. When Sansa figured out that an "owl pellet" was basically owl throw-up, she squealed like a pig.

When it was Arya's turn to talk about her day, she decided to give an intense description of Podrick Payne to see how long it would take her family to become frustrated with her. After three minute's of Arya describing her short encounter with Podrick in excruciating detail, down to the way a lock of his hair curled at the tip of his left ear, Sansa cracked.

"For god's sake Arya, he couldn't have been that interesting!"

Arya slowly turned to Sansa. She made a face of mock disbelief, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Rickon stifled a giggle.

"Sansa, I would hope you would respect my brief description of a chance encounter with a human being that I find particularly _fascinating_."

Arya stabbed at her plate with her fork. She brought the fork to her mouth and gnawed at the huge piece of chicken that she had speared, all the while staring at Sansa with a still shocked expression. Sansa huffed and stabbed at her own plate.

* * *

**A/N: Like I said earlier, I struggle with a learning disorder that makes writing difficult, so sorry for the delay. I listened to Florence + The Machine, Mumford & Sons, and Dada Life's Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker**** to help me focus.**

**The owl pellet thing is a true 6th grade experience of mine. The mouth feeding a goose was actually done by a friend of mine.**

**Also, say hello to Pordrick mutherfucking Payne. **

**John Langdon University is based off of a college that is almost a mile from my house/my school. It is named after someone who was at the Constitutional Convention, and has a competitive crew club.**


	4. Ready All

**A/N: My thoughts go out to everyone effected by the shooting in Colorado.**

**All things belong to their respective owners. **

**Check previous A/N's and Wikipedia for information on rowing. ****Time magazine had a special Olympic issue, in which rowing was mentioned (well, more then just mentioned).**

******_erg test_ - a test (on an erg) of how much distance a rower can row in a set time, or how long it takes a rower to go a certain distance. It is used to decide boat placements and to measure a rower's improvement.**

******_power ten_ - A call for the rowers to take "power" strokes, giving it everything they can for a certain number of strokes. This is used in races to make a move on another crew and, in practice, to build stamina and let rowers realize both how hard they can pull and how that affects the boat's speed. Can also be a "Power 20" or more.**

******_ready all, row_: a call to begin rowing, said at the beginning of a race or a piece**

* * *

Arya's first class on her second day of class was Geometry, located in one of the trailer's in Harrenhall's back lot. Despite having a huge campuses, there simply were not enough classrooms for all of the students, so Harrenall had a small village of trailers in the back of the school. She hadn't realized that the classroom was in a trailer, so she ended showing up five minutes late. After an awkward conversation with the teacher and being stared at by the whole class, Arya took the one empty seat in the back right of the class.

The teacher started talking about the properties of triangles, which Arya had already learned about at King's Landing, so she started drawing obscure shapes in the margin of her notebook.

"Hey, are you the first men's eight new coxswain?"

Arya looked up to see the boy next to her that was asking the question. He had pale blonde hair and dark blue eyes that could have possible been purple.

"Uh, yeah, how did you know that?"

"My name is Edric Dayne, but you can call me Ned. I row on the second eight."

The swell of nerves in Arya's stomach relaxed slightly. _His name is_ _Ned_,_ just like dad._

"Really? Wow, I didn't get a chance to see any of the other guy rowers. It's nice to meet you."

Ned's cheeks became a little red, a smile spreading across his face.

Arya and Ned spent the rest of the class whispering to each other, until they were called out by the teacher.

When the bell rang, Ned tapped Arya on her shoulder as she got up from her seat.

"See you at practice tonight?"

Arya smiled. "Yeah, definitely."

* * *

Arya, still in a good mood after meeting Edric that morning, decided she was actually going to use one of the cafeterias for lunch that day. She instantly regretted her decision when she open a door to the cafeteria and was hit with a wave of mystery smells.

Harrenhall did not just have one cafeteria, but two - one referred to as the "Black Cafe" and the "Red Cafe", in homage to the school's colors. Arya thought it sounded a bit morbid.

Each cafeteria was about the size of three basketball courts. In total, both cafeterias had seven lunch lines. The Red Cafe had a regular lunch line, a sub sandwich line, and a lunch line that exclusively sold pizza. The Black Cafe had a large snack food with two cash registers and three lunch lines selling regular food.

Although the meals were different every day, there was always a food constant staple at Harrenhall; french fries. Any student could buy french fries for the lox price of fifty cents. Arya stuck with a brown bagged lunch that Nan had packed her.

Arya started to walk towards one of the few empty tables and pulled out a black chair, preparing to set her bag down- until she heard someone call her name.

"Arya! 'Ey yo girl! Arya!"

It was Travis, who leaped up from one of the tables, undulating his arms in the air while continuing to yell "'Ey yo girl!". Chris jumped up out of the seat beside him and started moving his body in tandem with Travis's.

Arya couldn't help cracking a smile. Though she had only meeting her rowers for a brief moment the night before, they seemed like a group of people she could get along with. Except for Gendry and Hot Pie. She suspected the rest of the season would be extremely awkward between the three of them.

She walked towards his waving body, but stopped short when she realized who he was sitting across from the two boys - Gendry and Hot Pie. Hot Pie was munching on pie crust when he saw her. Crumbs spilled out of his mouth. Gendry took no time with his reaction.

"Ah! Ms. Stark, please, please take a seat," Gendry patted the empty seat next to him.

Arya decided, against her better judgement, she should sit with the guys. Gendry smiled when she plopped down on the seat.

The group ate in silence, save Travis, who was telling everyone about the time he convinced his English teacher that he was a direct descendant of Mao Zedong.

"And I'm not even Chinese!" This earned a chuckle from Chris.

"Travis," Gendry said, "I hate to interrupt the story, but our friend Hot Pie has something he would like to say to our brand new coxswain."

Arya looked up to see that Gendry had scooted back his seat so Hot Pie and Arya could see each other.

"Arya, I- I am sorry for-" He looked and Gendry, who nodded, "I am sorry for cursing you out."

Gendry looked at Arya, who had a blank look on her face. She hadn't expected an apology from Hot Pie.

"I'm sorry for almost punching you in the face."

"You almost punched Hot Pie? That's awesome!" Travis said, but everyone ignored him.

"Ah!" Gendry exclaimed, "Now we don't have to spend the rest of the season being extremely awkward."

"And Gendry, thank you from stopping me from punching Hot Pie."

Gendry shrugged and took a bite from his apple. "The pleasure was all mine, ma'am."

* * *

"Alright you sorry son's of whore, gather 'round!" Yoren bellowed. The varsity male rowers (plus Arya) crowded around him. They had just came back from the warm up jog around the school. Arya found a place next to Gendry and elbowed him in the side to get his attention.

"What was that for?" He rubbed his side.

Yoren cleared his throat and the group of boys silenced.

"Although it is only the second day of winter training, we will be doing a recorded 2,000 meter piece."

"AN ERG TEST ON THE SECOND DAY OF WINTER TRAINING?" Travis shouted dramatically.

"Shut up Travis. It is not a test, but your scores will be recorded." Yoren waved a hand, dismissing the boys, who disbanded and wandered off to the erg machines, strapping themselves in and taking a few warm up stokes.

Gendry did a little bow to Arya. "Well, excuse me, ma'am, but we must part if I am to complete the erg test."

"Am I your mother? No. Don't call me ma'am."

"How about sweetheart? Or honey? Or babe, pumpkin, sweet pea, baby doll, cuddle muffin, lady love, or how about-"

He stopped when she silently turned and stomped away. But when she had gone about two yards, she came back to him, a look of internal conflict on her face.

"Do you want to- do you want me to cox you through the piece or call some power tens or something for you?" She was staring at the ground.

"I am _touched_!" Arya looked up and sneered at him, causing him to smile. He actually was touched. "But no, not today Arya. Maybe another time."

"Suit yourself." She walked away, but turned back to give him a last look. There eyes met for the briefest of moments, and something shifted in Gendry's mind.

He shook of the peculiar feeling and hopped onto an erg that was off to the side, away from all the other boys. He strapped himself in and rowed about twenty strokes to warm up. Yoren cleared is throat and raised his hand, signalling the boys that he was about to start the test.

"Ready all..." Gendry brought himself up to half side, readying himself for the piece. His muscles tensed, his arms twitching with anticipation.

"... row!" And they were off.

The collective groan of twenty four erg's handles being yanked back filled the hall. Gendry's own voice filled his mind.

_Ok, Gendry, power ten to start it out._

_ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR._

_We can do this come on._

_FIVE. SIX. SEVEN. EIGHT. NINE. TEN._

_100 meters down._

Gendry had never really developed a system of thoughts to get through an erg test, but he always started with a power ten. He loved watching the split on the screen drop suddenly.

For the next 1,400 meters, Gendry's mind wandered through the events of the day. He thought about a math problem in class that day. He tried solving it in his head, but it disintegrated in his mind. He thought about the girl in his 9th grade English class that had gotten pregnant sophomore year, failing to remember her name. All the while, he made sure that he was pulling hard, trying to keep his average split around 1:35. It soon became clear to him that he would not be able to hold this split, that he could only pull a consistent split of 1:45, so he chugged along.

He could barely hear the grunts around him. He heard Arya somewhere in the distance, encouraging some kid on the third eight who was slowing down.

His legs were burning, he was light headed, and everything fiber of his body was screaming at him to stop, to slow down. He chugged along.

Once Gendry hit the last five hundred meters, he prepared to enter the sprint, and he began thinking about his mom and the way she use to sing to him when he was little.

When he his 101 meters left to go, Gendry picked it up, and hit his last power ten.

_ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR._

_Almost done almost done._

_FIVE. SIX. SEVEN. EIGHT. NINE. TEN._

_ONE MORE STROKE-_

And then it was over. The part of the screen on the erg that showed Gendry how many meters he had left was at zero. He looked to the part with his time. Six minutes and forty five seconds. It wasn't his fastest time (his fastest being 6:23, three seconds away from qualifying to be on America's Junior National Team that represented the U.S. at the World Rowing Junior Championships). He knew that it was too early in the season to start being hard on himself about scores.

_If only I had trained harder over the summer..._

"Wow."

Gendry wiped the waterfall of sweat pouring from his head and unstrapped his feet from the erg. He turned to see Arya behind him, with an amazed look on her face and a little notebook in hand.

"Did you know that's-"

"Good? I guess. Good enough? Not by a long shot." Gendry took a gulp from his water bottle. He didn't want Arya to know how disappointed he was in himself, so he looked down at his hands and picked at an old callus.

Arya crinkled her face. "You rowers know that picking at your calluses really doesn't help anything. At least you aren't- stop that! That is disgusting!"

Gendry's hand was up to his mouth, chewing at the callus under his middle finger, tearing off a piece of rough skin.

"My body my choice!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Gendry shrugged.

"Well, since you finished the test, I guess you can go- ACH!"

Gendry got up at patted a sweaty, callused hand on Arya's head.

"Sorry, babe, I would lave to stay and chat, but I have to bring Hot Pie home."

"Don't call me babe!" But he ignored her and walked on over to Hot Pie, who was lying on the floor, exclaiming how much he had overly exerted himself. No one payed him any attention. Arya watched Gendry poke Hot Pie on the side with his foot.

"Get up. I'm taking you home."

Hot Pie groaned and rolled around. Arya was reminded of a documentary she saw on Animal Planet where a walrus was having a hard time turning on it's side.

* * *

**A/N: Please review. I listened to _The Dark Knight_ and _Sherlock Holmes _soundtracks (both by Hans Zimmer) to help focus.**

**I did see _The Dark Knight Rises _Monday afternoon. It was very good, and I teared up a little bit at some parts, just because I found it very inspiring in my own twisted way.**

**Rowers get blisters and calluses from oars and the erg. I like to pick at mine. A lot of rowers also kinda gnaw at them... an act I am guilty of.**


	5. Stroke

**A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews, and for the reader messaging me on tumblr... you know who you are :). Not much is going on, I pretty much sit at home all day and go to the gym to workout every other day. All of my friends are currently out of town :(**

**The Olympic opening ceremony was odd but great :)**

**Check Wikipedia and other A/N's for information on rowing.**

**Everything belongs to it's respective owners.**

**_stroke/stroke seat - _the rower sitting nearest the stern/coxswain. The "stroke" sets the rhythm for the boat; all the other rowers follow his or her lead. Also referred to as 8 seat.  
**

* * *

"So, Arya, did you go to the Iron Cup Championship at your old school?" Gendry asked.

It was Friday afternoon, and Arya was sitting with Gendry, Hot Pie, Chris, and Alex at what was now their usual spot for lunch. On the days where she didn't have lunch with the boys, Arya would sit with Elizabeth and some of the other first eight girls.

Arya took a moment to think her answer through; she still hadn't revealed to anyone that she had previously gone to King's Landing, who happened to be the two year reigning champion of the Iron Cup.

"Uh, yeah, my old school went. We didn't win or anything. My boat, the men's freshmen eight, placed fourth in our final race." This was a lie, as Arya's boat had gotten first place. She still had her medal hanging on her bedroom wall.

The Iron Cup Championship was the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition. Competing crews come from all over North America. For almost a decade, Targaryen Preparatory School was the reigning champion, until Kings Landing defeated them two years ago.

"Well, Yoren told me we are going this year! Isn't that awesome?" Gendry beamed at her.

"OHMYGODTHATISAMAZING," Travis started flapping his arms and hyperventilate. Chris had to calm him down.

"Does he really think we are good enough?" Hot Pie asked.

"I mean, our boat placed second at states last year, and the booster club has raised enough money, so why not?" Gendry elbowqed Arya, who had a distant look on her face. "Aren't you excited?"

Arya looked to him and smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

It was 7:00 Friday night when Gendry's mom was home, an hour late then when she usually got home. She unlocked the locks on the front door and came through with bags filled with groceries. Gendry was lying on the couch, watching TV, when his mom came in. She was a whirlwind of long, blonde hair, her uniform for her hostess job ruffled from working all day.

"Sorry I'm late! I had to drop by the grocery store, and the bus came to the station late, and-"

"Here, mom, let me help you-" Gendry reached for on of the bag's in his mother's arms.

She swatted his hands away. "No, no, I'll put these away. Could you just start boiling some water for me and throw these meatballs in the microwave while I cook some peas?"

After doing what his mom asked, Gendry set their small table where they ate all of their meals together. It was the same table he ate at when he was a baby and as a child.

He sat in his seat, and told his mom about school while she stirred that pasta. He told her about crew and their new named Arya, and how she almost punched Hot Pie when they first met. This earned a laugh from his mother.

Once everything was cooked and the food was set on the table, his mother sat down. She bowed her head to say grace, a ritual Gendry hadn't participated in since he was ten. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Let's eat."

They filled their plates with dinner. They ate in silence for a few moments until his mother spoke.

"How are the college applications going?"

And there was that dreaded question that had been hanging over his head since summer started.

"Fine," he said shortly.

She set her fork down and sighed.

"Gendry, what have we talked about-"

"Mom! I just need to work on my essays, I have everything else filled out. Hot Pie hasn't even printed his applications out!"

"I don't care about what Hot Pie does! This is important, sometimes I feel like you don't care, that you don't even want to go to college!"

"What if I don't want to? Would that be so horrible?" He set his own fork down.

"Gendry, we talked about this. You could join ROTC once you are in college, but you are _not _joining the military when you graduate, do you hear me? I have worked too _DAMN HARD_ these past seventeen years for you to just hop on a ship and join the Navy, do you understand me?"

Gendry stared at his plate and didn't answer, but his mother knew that this didn't mean she had won the war they had been fighting, just the battle.

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, both of them too stubborn to be the first one to talk.

His mother sat back on the one armchair in the apartment while Gendry cleaned the table and washed the dishes, ignoring his mom, until she started having a coughing fit. He turned to see her, sitting in her chair with her eyes closed. He walked over and stood over her.

"You doing alright, Mom?"

His mom open her eyes and looked up to smile at him. "Of course honey. God, you have gotten tall, haven't you? I am just a bit tired, and I am probably coming down with something. Don't worry."

"Alright, tell me if you need anything. And mom, I'm sorry for being snippy with you."

"I know you are, darling. It's okay. I'm sorry too, and I love you, okay?"

"I love you too." Gendry leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

He almost felt bad about what he was planning to do once he turned eighteen. Almost.

* * *

Arya was on her bedroom floor, reading from her Government textbook when she got the call. The intercom by her door buzzed, Sansa's voice coming from it a second later.

"Arya, could you come to my room?"

Arya sighed and rolled her eyes. Sansa's room was down the hall from her own, so she didn't see why she couldn't just come to her room. Arya stuck a post it note to mark her space in the book and went to Sansa's room.

When Sansa was little, her room was pink. Pink walls, pink sheets, pink posters, pink bed. But she had matured since then, as did her taste. Her room was painted a dark purple, the walls decorated with framed movie posters and Broadway playbills. There was a place for everything, and everything was in that place.

Sansa was sitting at her antique vanity, halfway through applying mascara when Arya walked in and flopped on her bed. The bed's sheets were white and crisp, littered with magazines and oddly enough, tissues. Arya saw that the framed picture of Sansa and Joffery on Sansa's bedside table had been turned down.

"What is it?"

Sansa, who was putting powder on her nose, turned to face her sister. Arya noticed that Sansa was wearing a purple turtleneck sweater dress, an article of clothing her sister had never been fond of. But of course, Sansa managed to make the dress look good; the dress hugged her curves and showed off her fit physique. She matched the dress with black leggings and flats, which made her look more mature then a seventeen year old.

Her sister gave her a tired smile. "I just wanted to know how you are doing. Since we don't go to the same school, we don't really talk much anymore."

"Aren't you going out with Joffery soon?" Since the incident between Arya and Joffery, Sansa started spending more and more time with her beloved Joffery. He drove her to school, she went directly to his house after school, and ate dinner with his family at least three times a week.

Sansa flinched at her boyfriends name but remained smiling. "Yes, he is taking me out for dinner." She turned back to the vanity mirror and curled her eye lashes."But tell me about what your new school is like. Tell me about your friends."

And so she did, hesitantly at first. She told Sansa about Harrenhall, about the sheer size of it and how big the population was. She expected a snide comment about public schools, but Sansa only nodded and continued putting makeup on.

"How is crew going?"

Arya was surprised that her sister asked about crew, but then remembered that Joffery was the captain on King's Landing crew team. The little ass.

"Well, I am coxing the guy's first eight... Sometimes I eat lunch with some of the girl rowers when I'm not eating with the some of the guys on my boat. They are all really nice and funny. I am, I guess you could say closer, with the guy who is going to be my stroke, you know what that is, right? Well his name is Gendry and he is a senior."

Arya couldn't help but think that Gendry would probably be one of the many guys that gawked at Sansa whenever she walked by. She didn't like when guys looked at her sister that way, but she especially didn't like thinking about Gendry doing that.

"I am glad you are making friends. Maybe you could invite them over sometime."

Arya snorted. "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. They would take one look at the house and think I am spoiled."

Arya flicked one of the tissues on Sansa's bed.

"Sansa, what's with the tissues? Are you sick or something?"

"I had a runny nose earlier."

Arya sat on the bed for another minute, not knowing what else to say. Sansa had been acting different lately, eating and talking less. Arya didn't know what to make of it, so she did the only thing she knew that might make Sansa feel a little bit better.

"You look very nice, Sansa."

Her face light up, a genuine smile replacing her tired one. "Thank you, Arya."

"Well... I'm going to go now." Arya got off the bed and walked to the door. Sansa put her makeup down and spoke.

"Arya, I love you, you know that, right?"

Arya's arm, which was reaching for the door, froze in mid-air, but didn't turn to face her sister. Her and Sansa never really said "I love you" since Sansa had turned thirteen, when she became more interested in Joffery and being feminine then playing with Arya in the mud.

"I- I love you too, Sansa, and I know you love me."

Once Arya had left the room and shut the door, Sansa rolled the turtle neck down to inspect her neck in the mirror, revealing purple marks in the shape of Joffery's hands. She shuddered and a sob escaped from her throat, but her hand quickly covered her mouth so Arya wouldn't be able to hear.

Sansa rolled up the sleeves to inspect her forearms. She had concealed the bruises on her arms with the sleeves, all of the little bruises from being pinched whenever she annoyed Joffery. _It's alright, Sansa, he apologized, he is sorry. And you will be able to help him, to fix him. He loves you and you love him. _

But deep down Sansa knew, even if she wanted to leave Joffery, she would never be able to. He had told her that if she ever tried to leave, he would make sure her father would lose his job, and, besides, who would believer her? The teenage girl who was known to have a tendency to be a little overly dramatic, or the charming young man who was slated to take over his father's multi-billion dollar company? No, she couldn't leave him.

She took a moment to compose herself, rolled up the turtle neck and rolled down her sleeves, and started to fix her hair into a braided bun, exactly the way Joffery liked it.

* * *

**A/N: Please review!**

**I love Sansa. I didn't at first, but I think she is just as strong as Arya is, in my opinion. ****However, I feel more connected to Arya, since I am the problem child, and I have a sister who I get compared to a lot and who boys are A LOT more interested in.**

**If you only watch the show, I _really _encourage you to read the books, and read all of the chapters, though I skipped some of Davos's chapters in the third book because they were boring. Shh.**

**I modeled the Iron Cup after Stotesbury, a famous high school regatta that my school has never attended since I have been on the team.**

**Next chapter will be a flashback that visits events that transpired before the first chapter.**


	6. Backsplash Part One

**A/N: I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for this being late, I explain why at the end. This chapter is going to be split in two parts, I will release the second part tomorrow.**

**Check Wikipedia and earlier A/N's for information on rowing.**

**Everything belongs to its respective owners.**

**_backsplash_ - the minor splash that can happen when the rower's oar blade enters the water at a an awkward angle. Not only is it a sign of bad technique, it gets fellow rowers wet.**

* * *

The weather had foretasted the blizzard for weeks; Gendry's mom had been stocking up on groceries just in case they got snowed in. She told him how, when she was little, she would wear her pajamas inside out and flush an ice cube down the toilet whenever she wanted it to snow really hard. Gendry made sure to wear his Batman pajamas inside out that night, and made his mom watch him flush an ice cube down the toilet.

The ice cube most of work, since the next day the whole county was blanketed with a foot of snow. Gendry begged and screamed and whined until his mother agreed to play with him in the snow. However, Gendry refused to wear his snow pants. He wriggled and twisted out of her grip, screaming how he didn't need snow pants, his regular pants were fine.

After battling for half an hour, Gendry's mom let out a frustrated cry and screamed at Gendry, "If your father were here to see you now, he would beat you bloody!"

They were both silent for a moment until Gendry let out that whine that toddlers make when they are about to cry. He didn't know why his mom was being so loud, she had never been this loud before. Was she angry? What did he do wrong? Ow, ow, ow, his head hurt, she was so loud his head started to hurt. His mommy scared him, but she looked so sad.

His mom laid down on their recently purchased love seat, covering her face with her hands and silently cursing herself. She had decided when she was quite young that she would never scream at her child, never never never. She didn't even know why she brought up Gendry's ass of a father; they hadn't spoken in the two years since she had demanded some sort of monetary support from him. After that, she received a $10,000 check on the first of July every year.

She felt a soft tug at her hair, and peeked out of her hands to see Gendry, his little hand in her hair, the other rubbing his red eyes.

"Mommy, I-I-I'm sorry, I'll wear the pants, I'll be good, I promise." Gendry let out a small sniffle. There was no way she could stay mad at him.

She grabbed Gendry at the waist and flew him through the air, saying "Super Gendry to the rescue!" until she plopped him down on her lap. She sat up and nuzzled into his hair.

"No, no, no. Mommy's sorry. I shouldn't have screamed, I'm so sorry Gendry. I love, love, love you." Gendry looked up at his mother with those huge blue eyes. _My god, he looks like his father more and more each day..._

His mom kissed him on the tip of his nose, something that always made his face crinkle in the cutest way.

"I love, love, love you, Mommy." Gendry reached up to her face and pulled it to his with his little hands. He planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

It was the first time his mother had ever mentioned his father.

* * *

It took Gendry years to put together the bits and pieces that his mom would let on about his father. When he was six, she had told him that he looked so much like his father. When he was twelve, his mom asked him what he might want to do after high school and mentioned that his father had graduated from Georgetown in the early nineties.

Every time he would ask about his father when he was younger, a fake smile would appear, and she would say that his father wasn't ready to be a daddy when they made Gendry, but that she was so very happy that she had Gendry in her life. The last time he ever asked about it was when he was thirteen and old enough to understand how sex worked.

"Your father was a man that I met when I had just graduated from high school. He just graduated from business school. He came from a very wealthy family, and I was going to start classes at the local community college, but I had you, and my parents were both very sick and were unable to take care of you. But your dad cares about you, and that's why he sends us money every year so I don't have to work every day to buy you stuff."

Gendry never asked his mom about his father after that. He was too embarrassed once he realized that he was a product of a one night stand.

* * *

It was a random weekend in the March of Gendry's sophomore year. He had spent Friday night at Hot Pie's house, playing video games and staying up until two, snacking on potato chips and Hot Pie's apple pie. Once it hit 1 a.m, the boys started to talk about serious matters; Hot Pie on how he felt when he found out that his dad had cheated on his mom, and Gendry talked about how badly he wanted to know who his father was, and how his mom wouldn't tell him. It was Hot Pie's idea to try to find Gendry's dad through Georgetown alumni websites.

Hot Pie had fallen asleep by the time Gendry found the website that had what he needed. It was the "Georgetown Class of 1994" alumni website where former classmates posted old class photos and updated each other on their lives. Gendry went through 1,096 pictures before he found what he was looking for.

It was a picture of himself, holding up a pitcher of beer. Well, it wasn't really himself - it was a man who looked exactly like Gendry. The only thing written under the picture was the name "Robert Baratheon".

_Baratheon, Baratheon_, thought Gendry, _isn't there some company called Baratheon Inc or something like that?_

I didn't take long for Gendry to find the website for Baratheon Industries. All he had to do was type "Baratheon" into Google.

He found the website and clicked where it said "About Us". A picture of a very fat man and an angry looking woman surrounded by smiling blonde children appeared. Under the picture was a short description.

_Robert Baratheon took over Baratheon Industries from his father, Steffon Baratheon, three after graduating from Georgetown with a degree in business. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Cersi, and their three beautiful children, Joffery, Myrcella, and Tommen._

Gendry's stomach started to churn. His father was married and had three kids. _Three kids. _Gendry had always wanted siblings, but never like this. Why didn't his dad marry his mom, wasn't she and Gendry good enough? Why did he want to be the blonde children's dad and not Gendry's? Gendry felt tears starting to well up, but he smashed his palms into his eyes to rub them away. He wasn't going to cry over some fat ass not wanting him.

He closed the website and turned Hot Pie's computer off, getting out of the office chair to lay down in his huge pile of blankets and pillows. The soft sound of Hot Pie's snores lulled him to a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

**A/N: ****I GOT A JOB AAAHHHHHH! I am working at a local vet's office, taking care of the dogs and cats (scooping poop). Also marching band starts very soon. I PROMISE TO STAY ON SCHEDULE WITH POSTING, sorry for this one being so late and so short, I hoped it was a good chapter.**

**Please review!**


	7. Layback

**A/N: I am so sorry for the hiatus (but this will be a long chapter!). Marching band sucked up all my time until the beginning of November, I had SAT classes every Sunday through mid-October, college applications, and a coworker of mine recently committed suicide, so I have a lot on my plate. This stress has lead to a relapse in my eating disorder and other mental illnesses. I have been having terrible energy problems lately- I take ridiculously long naps, and walking up the stairs is exhausting. The results of blood test will hopefully shed some light on what is going on. But on with the show.**

**If anyone would like to be a beta, please contact me.**

**_layback_: how much you lean back at the finish**

******Check Wikipedia and previous A/N's for information on rowing.**

**All things belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

"Alright all of you punks, get your asses home!" The group of sweaty boys were too winded to respond to Yoren, so they dispersed and grabbed their bags.

It had been a hard work out for the boys. They had some ridiculous circuit work out Yoren concocted, while the girls went to Harrenhall's weight room for strength conditioning. Arya spent the whole practice staring blankly at her math homework. She wasn't able to answer a single question.

It hadn't been a good day. Arya had woken up feeling like crap, head pounding and barely able to breath through her left nostril. She didn't have a fever, so Nan practically dragged her from her bed to get ready from school. She almost scratched the eyes out of the annoying kid who sat next to her in Government when he went on a 20 minute rant about the legalization of pot. She was in a bad mood, the kind that Sansa had when things didn't go her way.

Arya walked down the long main hallway to Harrenhall's entrance, taking time to look admire the massive trophy cases before stepping outside. Arya waited in the front of the school for a very long, very cold, twenty minutes, for Nan to show up. She politely turned down offers of transportation from her teammates, telling them her mom was just running a little late. It wasn't until the third turned down offer did she remember the conversation between Nan and herself that morning.

_Arya's head was slumped against the passenger side window, refusing to talk to Nan for making her go to school._

_"Arya, I'm going out for bingo tonight, and your family, as you know, is going to be at the Baratheon's house for dinner. This means you are going to need a ride home from one of the many friends I am sure your charming personality has earned you. Got it?"_

_Arya just mumbled something incoherent and got out of the car, having totally glazed over whatever Nan had said._

Arya started to panic, her eyes quickly scanning the empty parking lots located in front of Harrenhall's main entrance. Everyone had left ten minutes ago, including Brienne, Yoren, and Podrick. Of the few cars that were left in the parking lot, all of them were dark- except for one. It was an old, beat-up pick up truck. The driver was illuminated by the faint glow of a cell phone screen.

It was Gendry, probably checking his phone for a text message. Arya jogged over to the car, cursing herself for not bringing a jacket.

She pounded on the driver side, making Gendry jump a few inches off his seat.

"_Shit_!" she heard him yell. Gendry composed himself and rolled down the window.

"Hey Arya, funny seeing you here." She gave him an annoyed sneer, making him laugh. That annoyed her even further.

"Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

Arya heard the _click _of the car unlocking. She went to the passenger side door and hopped into the car, accidentally slamming the door behind her.

The truck smelled like cheap pine air freshener and boy. It wasn't a smell that Arya minded.

"Why are you even doing here anyways?" she asked.

"Oh, I, um, I was making sure someone picked you up." Although the only source of light was that of the dash board and a far away street light, Arya could swear she saw Gendry blush. Arya felt a faint warmth bubble in her stomach, but squashed it. She didn't want to look dumb in front of anyone, especially Gendry.

"Creeper."

"Yeah, whatever. Do you need a ride home or not?"

"Yes-," then it hit her. Gendry didn't know who she or her family was. Arya didn't want anyone at her new school to know how wealthy her family was, or how money was never a problem for them. She could sense that Gendry was not well off- Brienne had told her that he was getting help from the school to pay to be on the crew team.

Arya felt it all twist inside of her, clogging her brain. She didn't have a choice though, she would have to expose who she was to Gendry.

"Yes, thank you."

* * *

They had started off the car ride talking about their day at school. To be more precise, Gendry had started off the car ride talking about his day. Arya was uncharacteristically quiet, save for the few directions she gave Gendry, leading the one sided conversation to quickly fizzle out.

They had been driving for about fifteen minutes when they pulled into the private drive leading towards the house. The farther they went down the secluded road, the more Arya became anxious. She felt her breath hitch, knowing she needed to say something.

"Gendry, I have to tell you some-"

"Holy _shit_, is that your house?"

Too late. He had reached the top of the hill at the end of the road, triggering the motion sensitive lights that illuminated the Keep. Gendry pulled into the circular driveway. Arya never realized how massive the driveway seemed until just now.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, that is my house." Arya slowly slid down her seat.

The lights caused shadows to be cast at awkward angles, making the large house look more like a medieval fortress then a modern day mansion. Arya could feel Gendry's eyes on her. It all started to come out like word vomit.

"Okay, so I know you all think I moved here from Maine, which I did, but not over Thanksgiving break like you have been told. I actually moved here from Maine the summer before my freshman year-" she had begun to rush and slur her words, so she took a breath and continued, all the time staring at her hands,"- but before I started going to Harrenhall I went to Kingslanding. I was their Men's Freshman 8 and we won the Iron Cup Championship, but then I punched this kid named Joffery in the face because he was being a total dickwad. I got expelled and then I was sent to Harrenhall and I was miserable but then I met you and Hot Pie and everyone else and I started becoming happy. Please, please, don't tell anyone, they will hate me and think that I am a spoiled brat and-"

She stopped talking abruptly. She could feel that prick behind her eyes that meant she was about to cry. No, she can't cry, not in front of Gendry.

"I'm glad you came to Harrenhall."

Arya finally peeked up at Gendry. He was staring straight ahead, his fingers gripping the steering wheel awkwardly, even though he had turned the car off.

"What did you-"

"I said, I'm glad you came to Harrenhall. And it doesn't really matter to me that you went to Kingslanding, and I know the other guys wouldn't care." Gendry turned to her and placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

"But they won't hear it from me, I promise. If you need a ride any other time, I'd be happy to drive you." He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

She shifted her hand off her lap and towards her shoulder, ghosting the tips of her fingers over his hand.

"Thank you, Gendry."

* * *

Arya had been sharing a big bowl of popcorn with Bran and Rickon in the family room when the doorbell rang.

"Hey, can one of you get the door? I'm a little busy at the moment," Nan shouted from the kitchen.

Bran swiftly put his index finger on his nose, followed by Arya. It took Rickon a few seconds to realize what was going on.

"You guys suck." Rickon pushed his chair out and went to answer the door.

The two remaining siblings high fived and resumed munching on their popcorn.

"JON!"

_Jon? _Arya thought. _But Jon is up in New York, being a cop..._

Bran had already bolted to the foyer. Arya was not far behind them.

She came upon Jon, her half-brother, giving Bran and Rickon bone crushing hugs, despite their protests that they were too old for such things. A large knapsack with "SNOW" scribbled on it slouched against the wall. Jon then shared a tender moment with Nan, who had always been more of a mother to him then his step mother had ever been.

When Jon turned towards Arya, she saw a deep sadness flash through his eyes, before a large grin formed. "Arya!"

"Jon!" Arya jumped and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, something she had done as a child with Jon. Jon let out a grunt.

"You aren't so little anymore, little sister."

Arya punched him on the shoulder once she was back on the ground. "Shut up."

Rickon was hopping from one foot to another, something he always did when he was excited. "So why are you-"

"Jon, m'boy!"

No one had noticed Ned or Catelyn entering the foyer. Ned was beaming, while Catelyn maintained a neutral demeanor.

"Hey Dad." Ned clasped Jon's arm and shook his hand.

Jon nervously glanced at Catelyn. "Hello, Catelyn."

Catelyn responded with a simple nod. Arya clenched her fists, annoyed with the way her mother always treated Jon with thinly veiled annoyance.

"Kids, I know you are all excited about your bother visiting, but first your mother, Nan, and I must speak to him in my office. Jon, grab your stuff, we can set you up in one of the spare rooms once we are through."

Jon grabbed his bag and followed Nan out of the foyer. Catelyn gave him a cold look when he passed her.

"But Dad, he just got-" Catelyn cut Rickon off suddenly.

"Listen to you father, Rickon."

Rickon bit his lip but said nothing further. Ned shot a strained smile towards Rickon. "Don't worry, he will be down for dinner."

* * *

Arya quickly kicked her discarded clothes under her bed and tried to make her bed look presentable when she heard the firm knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in!"

Arya's father entered her room.

"Hey dad, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about Jon."

Ned made his way to Arya's bed and sat down, motioning for Arya to join him.

"Aren't you happy he is here?"

"Of course I am happy Jon is here. But, Arya, listen to me, this is important. Jon isn't here just to visit. About a week ago, his girlfriend, Ygritte. was killed in a robbery. Your uncle Benjen is giving him a couple of weeks off to get all of her affairs in order, since she was an only child and her parent aren't around. After that he is probably going to go back up to New York. Do you understand, Arya? Jon needs a lot of support from his family during this hard time in his life."

Arya was wordless. The only person close to her that had ever died was her grandfather, but she was only four at the time and could hardly remember him. Honestly, she didn't know how to feel about the death of a woman she never knew.

"Oh, well... that's really sad."

Her father gave her a sad smile.

"I know, it is a struggle to figure out how you feel about the death of someone you never knew," he said, as if reading her mind.

"Dinner is ready!" It was Nan's voice over the intercom.

"Come on, lets go see what Nan made us for dinner."

Arya reached for her father, who gave her a reassuring hug.

Arya and Ned made their way to the kitchen, where Bran, Rickon, and Jon were already sitting. Arya noticed how Jon's broad smile didn't reach his eyes, which made her throat tighten.

Sansa's seat was empty that evening.

* * *

Sansa was unable to speak with Jon until two days after his arrival, Monday evening after dinner. Though she was never as close to Jon as Arya was, Sansa had enjoyed the time she and Jon spent together as children. She had vivid memories of Jon smuggling her an extra lemon cake when Nan made them for dessert. Whenever Jon and Robb would explore the woods around Winterfell, their previous residence, Jon often brought back an interesting rock or colorful flower for her. He brought back bugs for Arya. When Sansa began embroidery at age seven, she stitched Jon's name on a piece of cloth. She had been so excited to give it to him, and when he got it he put it in his coat pocket and promised to always carry it with him.

Sansa could go on and on about the kindness Jon always showed her, which made her feel terrible when she recalls the two of them drifting apart.

Sansa found Jon in the casual family room, slumped in her father's favorite recliner, situated next to a window with a view of the front yard. Sansa stood in the door way, unsure whether or not she should just sit down or to greet him first.

"Hi Jon." Jon's face light up when he saw Sansa.

"Sansa! Come here." Jon hopped up from the chair and spread his arms for a hug, which Sansa gratefully accepted.. His arms were thicker then she remembered, and he smelled like shaving cream and pine.

Sansa had cried a little bit when Ned told her about Ygritte. Her father had comforted her, even though Sansa didn't understand why she was so upset.

Sansa sat on the blue sectional, curling herself up into the quilt that Nan had made when they first moved to the Keep.

"Can I ask you something sad, Jon?"

Jon took his seat. "Heh, I guess. Go ahead."

"What was she like, Jon?" Sansa pulled her legs up, hugging them tightly to her chest, using her knees as a chin rest. Her lips pressed into a firm line, a look Jon recognized as Sansa's concentrating face.

Jon turned back to look out the window. He didn't have to ask who Sansa was referring to.

"Where do I begin? I guess... I guess I could start with her hair,"

He turned back to her with the faintest smile on his lips, as if he were recalling a comforting memory.

"She had the red hair, kinda like your's, except where your hair is strawberry, her hair was fire. She told me that when she was little her mom told her that it was like she was kissed by fire. It was thick and wavy and went all the way down her back. She was from Canada, but she moved to New York City to work as a makeup artist on Broadway, which she loved doing. That's actually how we kinda met, I guess. I was dropping off a victim to a local battered woman's shelter, where Ygritte was giving free make overs to some women that were going on job interviews. She liked doing that kind of stuff, made her feel like she was making the world a better place."

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Sansa instantly regretted saying it when she saw the look of utter despair flash across his face. It was gone in an instant and replaced a hint of a wistful smile.

"Yeah. We didn't tell each other that we did very often, but we did love each other. Once I brought up getting married. Ygritte said she didn't need a piece of paper to prove we belonged with each other, but I found a wedding magazine in her closet once."

They sat in silence for a moment. Jon looked like he had more to say, but was struggling to articulate whatever he was thinking. Finally, he spoke.

"The day she died... I was sick, and had been out for a day, and I was tired of being cooped up in our tiny apartment all day, so I asked he to pick me up some cough drops and NyQuil. Even though she was tired and she had just come back from a dress rehearsal, she went out to get it for me. She never came back."

Tears swelled in John's eyes. He wiped them away with his palms. His face took on the look of a solemn reporter reporting some sort of violent act, totally veiling their emotions.

"She was taking too long, and she hadn't brought her cell phone, and I was scared, but I was too sick to look for her. A one of my buddy's was on duty that night, and he was the first on the crime scene. Some crack addict with a stolen gun held up the convenience store she had went to, looking for some easy cash to score enough drugs for his next high. Ygritte was trying to calm down these two sobbing teenage girls, which I guess really pissed off the crack head. She bled out on the floor, and then he shot himself. I got a call on my cell phone three hours later. I was too sick to look for her, and she didn't have a cell phone. One of my buddies from the station was the first on the scene."

"How do you get through all of the bad stuff? Like- what keeps you going?"

"I mean, I am not doing okay now, and I won't be doing okay in a week either. But I will be okay one day, and that is what I strive for. I try to remember the good times with her, since Ygritte will always be my first love. But I am also learning how to focus on myself. I really needed a break from the city, which is why I came down here for a few weeks. Spending time with my family helps."

Jon gave his half-sibling a warm smile that reached his eyes.

"But enough about me. How are you? Are you seeing anyone special?"

Sansa could see Joffery's snarling face in her mind. She felt his sweaty hands touching her, could smell the cheap beer that wafted from his mouth.

"No, no. I'm not seeing anyone special."

There is a faint vibrating sort of noise, signaling that Jon was getting a call. He reached for his phone and briefly looked away from Sansa to see who was calling.

"Sorry, Sansa, but I have to take this- my buddy Sam insists on checking up on me."

Sansa nodded with understanding. Jon held the phone up to his ear, telling the person on the other line that yes, he was doing fine and no, he really did not another suggestion for a book on dealing with the loss of a loved one. He patted her on the head when he passed her to leave the room.

Sansa sat for a moment, letting her legs loose and feeling her shoulders beginning to slouch. She lifted her shirt up, ever so slightly, to catch a glimpse of the healing cigarette burn on her porcelain skin, another token of Joffery's love.

* * *

When Catelyn and Ned started dating, Jon was 3 months old, his mother having died at child birth. They married when he was a year old. Catelyn never liked the idea that Ned had once shared his heart and love with someone else. The fact that a child was born from that love was like a kick in the gut. Although the pain of living with Jon, the child that was more Stark then all but one of her own children, subsided over the years, she would always feel a slight shift in her stomach whenever she heard is booming laugh. She did not ignore or abuse him, but she wasn't very loving either. She never tucked him in at night or cuddle him. She would give him gifts on holidays and come to his soccer games, but sometimes all the young Jon wanted was to be cuddled or tucked in at night by Catelyn. Nan acted more of a mother towards Jon then Catelyn ever had.

Though Catelyn had continued to regard Jon with the same cool reservation she had been displaying for years when he showed up to the Keep, her maternal instincts were screaming to comfort him in some way. She had fought it, wanting to not have more contact then she needed to have with him. However, a small thought had popped into her mind- what if Ned, the love of _her _life had died? Even worst, what if he had died in the grizzly way Ygritte had? The sinking feeling that went from her heart and all the way to her toes convinced her that she needed to do what she could to make Jon feel better.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, which meant all of the children were at school, and Ned was at work. Catelyn found Jon at the casual meal kitchen table, working on a neat pile of paperwork she assumed had to do with Ygritte. She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him.

"Good afternoon, Catelyn," he said without looking up.

"Good afternoon, Jon." He met her eyes with his own tired ones.

"If you want me to move, I could-"

"No, Jon, that is fine. I would like to talk to you about something."

Jon pushed the papers he had been working on out of the way, resting his elbows on the table.

"Jon... I know my words probably aren't of much comfort to you, and I know our relationship was strained at it's best. I'm- I'm sorry about Ygritte."

Jon blinked once, twice, three times. He didn't know what to think of what Catelyn was saying. After pining for her affection and validation for most of his young life, Jon realized, with some help from Ygritte, that it wasn't praise or attention from his step mother that he needed to be happy. He appreciated the sentiment anyways.

"I appreciate your kind words, but I really need to get back to my paper work." He pulled his paper work back and began working diligently. It wasn't until that very moment that Catelyn realized her relationship with Jon would never be one of compassion and familial love, and it was her own fault.

She left the kitchen without saying another word.

* * *

**And that ended badly but I didn't know how to finish it off, and I really wanted to include that bit.**

**ALSO: I now have an AO3 account under the same username.**

**Soon I will be doing a major editing overhaul with the whole series. Mostly cleaning up plot holes, grammar and stuff like that. Then I will post the edited stuff on AO3, my tumblr, and here. **

**Please review!**

**I quit crew, for a number of reasons. I am/was not one of the "favorites", so all of my hard work was getting me no where. Also, many of my friends quit do to similar situations. The coaches just aren't doing whats right. I wish I didn't have to quit, and I still get a little sad about it, but it is for the best. I will still be continuing this fanfiction though. **

**I have ideas for five other fics after this one is completed. Three of them will happen in the Way Enough universe, but they will not be about Gendry/Arya. I can't tell you what pairings they are without kind of spoiling the plot of this fic. They will most likely be one shots. I plan on doing two Gendry/Arya fics, one which will be multiple chapters, the other one will be a one shot in memory of my co-worker.**

**Don't expect any smut. I am a sad 17 year old virgin that has too much of an interest in my cats.**

**My heart goes out to the victims of the school shooting. My guidance counselor's cousin was killed in the shooting. It is hard to believe that in the time this fic has been written the Batman Aurora shootings also occurred. The world needs to do some changing. **


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